Vaporizer



H. F. COSTELLO July 4, 1950 VAPORIZER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 22, 1949 July 4, 1950 Filed June 22, 1949 H. F. COSTELLO 2,513,919

VAPORIZER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 JNVENTOR.

Patented July 4, 1950 VAPORIZER Hal F. Costello, Detroit, Mich., assignor to Goatello-Mausure, Inc., Detroit, Mich., a corporation of Michigan Application June 22, 1949, Serial No. 100,568

Claims. 1

This invention relates to electrically heated vaporizers provided with a pair of prongs adapted to be directly inserted into a corresponding wall socket whereby the device may be utilized with suitable chemicals or chemically treated substances for the purpose of perfuming, deodorizlng, disinfecting or otherwise treating the air of a room to provide certain desirable conditions of a germicidal or other nature.

Broadly speaking, the use of electrically heated Vaporizers for such purposes, and even directly applied to a wall socket, is by no means new, and one of the difficulties met with in the use of such a device employing a pair of contact prongs is the fact that wall sockets are not all of one standard design o even installed in a standard manner. For example, in one case the openings for the prongs may be arranged side by side, whereas in another case the socket may have been installed with the same openings positioned one above the other.

Where a vaporizer is constructed so that one portion thereof must be uppermost to be above the heating element, the difference in the arrangement of the socket openings often prevents the effective use of the device in one of these arrangements due to the fact that the prongs must be oriented to agree with the socket-openings to an extent that wherein that part of the vaporizer which should be uppermost is no longer so.

To meet this requirement it has been suggested that a more or less complicated switch or other movable connection be provided between the heater carried by the vaporizer and the pair of prongs, so that the prongs might be adjusted to a relatively horizontal or to a vertical relation without disturbing the position of the vaporizer body, and parts enclosed thereby, including the heater.

The writer proposes to meet this problem in a much simpler way having distinct mechanical, electrical and manufacturing advantages, as well as providing for the operation of the vaporizer in a simple, foolproof and highly efficient manner, equally effective regardless of the positioning of the openings of the wall socket.

It is, therefore, an object of the said invention to provide an electrically heated vaporizer adaptable to connection with sockets of varying positional arrangements of terminal engagement. without resorting to the use of commutator, switch, built-in contact-changing devices, or other similar mechanical means, whereby utmost simplicity of construction and operation may be maintained together with freedom from mechanisms subject to wear, arcing or burning.

A further object is to provide an arrangement wherein rotary movement of the vaporizer as a whole unit, including its contact prongs, may be effected to meet requirements of different positional arrangements of the openings in a wall socket.

A still further object is to provide, in a preferred form of the device, for a stage or support for a vapor-emanating tablet or substance characterized by its arrangement whereby said tablet or substance will be inclined to the horizontal to cause air currents induced by the action of the heater to pass across or wipe the surface of the tablet for more effective vaporizing or diffusion action; and, still further, the said invention contemplates an arrangement wherein the inclination of the said stage or shelf is adjustable to angles on opposite sides of a vertical plane through the axis of the device as the said device is rotated in one or another direction to accommodate its prongs to vertically or horizontally arranged openings in the wall socket.

The invention still further contemplates a vaporizer of the type having features heretofore referred to and having a body or shell of generally circular form with a stage or shelf therein forming a chord with said shell, and tablet of or charged with a volatile or air-diifusible substance, said tablet having an arcuate surface substantially following the internal curvature of the said shell or body to thereby enhance the transfer of deodorant, germicidal or other vapors to a current of air passing thereover and in close contact therewith.

The invention further contemplates in such a device an arrangement of lower and upper louvers in the shell or body for the intake and exhaust of air to and from the said body and arranged in such a manner that, regardless of the rotation of the body to accommodate its prongs to different arrangements of openings in the wall socket, said lower and upper louvers will still lie within the lower and upper arcuate portions of the said device; the said invention still further contemplating the provision of an opening on the back of the body from which the prongs extend, to provide for insertion of the vapor tablet into the body, whereby said opening will be concealed and in a considerable measure closed by its proximity to the wall or the socket mounting when the device is in position of use.

The said invention still further provides in one of its developements for a unitary prong and heater combination rotatable as a complete unit within the body of the device to accommodate the said prongs to different arrangements 3 of openings in the wall socket, and to permit the adjustment of angularity of the tablet-carrying stage or shelf to regulate the flow of air over the surface of the tablet.

Still further objects or advantages additional or subsidiary to the aforesaid objects, or resulting from the construction or operation of the invention as it may be carried into effect, will become apparent as the said invention is hereinafter further disclosed.

In carrying the said invention into effect, I may adopt the novel construction and arrangement of parts hereinafter described, by way of example, having reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the improved vaporizer;

Figure 2 is a rear elevation of the same;

Figure 3 is a front elevation of the same in one of its positions of use;

' Figure 4 is a front elevation of the same in in another position of use;

Figure 5 is a sectional elevation taken on a plane indicated by the line, 55 in Figure 3;

Figure 6 is a front view of the back cover and its associated parts removed;

Figure 7 is a rear view of the vaporizer body with the back cover removed;

Figure 8 is a detail plan of the stage or shelf;

Figure 9 is a detail view of a form of tablet which may be used in thedevice;

Figure 10 is a similar view to Figure 5 of a modified form of the device;

Figure 11 is a transverse section of the same taken on a plane indicated by the line in Figure 10;

Figure 12 is a front elevation of still another modified form of the device;

Figure 13 is a side elevation of the same;

Figure 14 is a top plan of the same;

Figure 15 is a cross section of the same taken on a plane indicated by the line |5--|5 in Figure 13;

Figure 16 is a sectional elevation taken on a plane indicated by the line |6|6 in Figure 15; and

Figure 1'? is a sectional plan of the same taken on a plane indicated by the line in the said Figure 15.

Similar characters of reference indicate similar parts in the several figures of the drawing.

Referring first to Figures 1 to 9 inclusive, 20 is a hollow body or shell or cup-like form arranged On a horizontal axis with the rear end closed by a detachable cover plate 2| secured in position by screws 22 entering the rim of the said cup shaped body. This cover plate 2| carries the rearwardly extending prongs or electrical contacts 23 and 24 for insertion into the openings of a wall socket in the well known manner.

Due to a common variation in the installation of such wall sockets, or in their actual design, the socket openings are sometimes found to be arranged side by side and at other times one above the other, so that in applying the prongs of an electrical device to such sockets these prongs must be arranged side by side, as shown in Figure 3, or one above the other, as shown in Figure 4 of the present drawings. Further reference to this fact and to its bearing upon the construction of Vaporizers in particular will be made hereinafter.

The shell or body 20 is shown as being slotted at 25 and 26 to provide air passages or louvers on the under and upper sides respectively of the said body, in its position of use, and from an examination of Figures 3 and 4 it will be observed that, regardless of which of the two positions of prongs 23 and 24 obtains, the relative lower and upper positions of the said louvers 25 and 26 are maintained as the said Figures 3 and 4 clearly show- This is due to the fact that the two sets of louvers are each centered to extend on either side of a common plane extending at approximately 45 degrees to a plane passing through the centers of the two prongs 23 and 24.

Within the said body 20 is a stage or shelf 21 supported beneath and in spaced relation to the upper louvers 26, as clearly shown in Figure 7, and this shelf 21 is shown as provided with upturned tabs 28 and 29, which, being cut out from the material of the said shelf, form openings 30 and 3|. Additional slotting 32 is also shown, increasing the total open area, and this shelf is intended to support a tablet, such as I33, of a material of or comprising a volatile or air-diffusible substance of a character meeting the air treatment which the vaporizer is intended to accomplish in any particular case. For example, the volatile or air-diffusible element of the tablet may be of a deodorant, perfuming, or a germicidal nature.

According to desire, the said tablet may be diffusible or similarly activated by the simple passage of air thereover or by the application of heat thereto, or both, and means are provided within the device for promoting the flow of air about the tablet, said means being in the form of an electrical resistance-type heater 33, invthe example illustrated, directly connected to the said prongs 23 and 24 by wires 34 and 35 respectively.

The said heater 33 is arranged beneath and in desirable proximity to th openings 3| and 32 of the shelf 27, whereby the tablet I33, when in position on the said shelf 29, may be subjected to heat from the said resistance 33 and also to the flow of air induced by such heat into the louvers 25 and eventually expelled from the louvers 26. Of course any arrangement of openings or vents in the shelf 29 may be adopted as desired to control and direct the flow of air about the tablet I prefer tov make the said tablet |33 with an arcuate upper surface I34 conforming more or less to the inner curvature of the body shell 20 so as to provide an effective area of air contact with the surface of the tablet, especially as such air flows upwardly within the confines of the arcuate wall of the said shell 20.

It will be noted that in one or other of the prong positions of the said device the shelf 21 slants at an angle to a vertical'plane extending through the axis of the device, and this has a quite desirable effect in insuring an efficient flow of the air over the exposed surfaces of the said tablet 23 with a wiping action assisting in the picking up and diffusing of the volatile elements of the said tablet.

It will also be observed that as in either of the positions of use of the device described (Figures 3 and 4) the tab 29 which happens to be uppermost is not essential to the positioning of the tablet I33; so that such uppermost tab 29 may be bent downwardly into the plane of the shelf 21 to close the opening from which it has been punched and thereby serve as a baiile to assist in promoting the flow of the air, more particularly about the lower edge of the inclined tablet, to insure its effective flow over the tablets surface before its escape through the upper louvers 26.

36 is a suitable opening in the back plate 2| to admit of the insertion of the tablet I33 into position on the shelf 21, and I may provide at the lower edge of this opening 36 an inwardly extending ledge 31 overlapping the rear edge of the shelf 21, both as a means of assisting in maintaining the said shelf in position and as a stop to prevent accidental sliding of the tablet rearwardly through the said opening 38 when the device is being handled as in the operation of applying it to a wall socket.

This opening 36 is, of course, concealed by the wall or face of the wall socket when the device is in position of use and is intended to closely approach said wall or face to an extent preventing undue escape of air through the said opening 36 instead of through the exhaust louvers 26.

While I prefer the herebefore described arrangement as being both simple and effective for all purposes, both in construction and operation, and free from the complications involving relatively movable parts in its adaptation to varying requirements, I further suggest, as a very simple modification thereof, an arrangement such as that shown in Figures and 11 wherein the heater 33 is arranged coaxially of the body 20 of the device and is carried by a pair of flanged prong-carrying disks 38 and 39 rotatably mounted in the center of the back plate 40 so that the prongs may be turned to any desired position for insertion in a particular socket.

As in the previously described arrangement (Figures 1 to 7), there is no movable connection between the heater and the prongs and consequently no electric member subject to wear, arcing or burning; and while the tablet supporting shelf may, in this case, be positioned horizontally by rotation of the body 20 accordingly, the inclination of the shelf to one or other side of a vertical plane may be similarly readily effected while at the same time maintaining the intake and exhaust louvers 25 and 26 within the lower and upper areas of the device for the purposes and to the same effect as in the said arrangement (Figures 1 to 7).

It will be observed that the two flanged disks 38 and 39 may be secured in position in the back plate 40 simply by the riveting of the inner ends of the prongs 23 and 24 therethrough in much the same manner as such riveting is effected in the first described arrangement; and where the heater 33 is arranged coaxially, as suggested, the openings in the shelf 27' may be somewhat modified as by arranging the slot 32' so that it extends in a direction from front to back of the device in the same direction as the said heater 33.

A simple arrangement eliminating moving parts but calling for two compartments or supporting surfaces for the accommodation of the vapor tablet is shown in Figures 12 to 17 inclusive, wherein, for the sake of example, I show a two part body 4! and 42, the parts being connected together by the central screw 43, and the rear portion 42 carrying the prongs 23 and 24 the inner ends of which are connected to the heater 33. The separation of the parts 41 and 42 of the body is a matter of manufacturing convenience and does not contemplate, in this particular case, the movement of one part with respect to the other.

The front portion of the device has a centrally located L-shaped member 44 providing tablet supporting surfaces 45 and 48 which define the inner walls of connecting tablet-receiving chambers 41 and 48 respectively. The outer walls of 44, as clearly shown in these chambers are perforated or provided with louver openings 43 and 50 for the escape of air therefrom.

if is a heater chamber, opening rearwardly of the front portion 4| of the device and situated behind the re-entrant angle of the body member Figure 15, to accommodate the heater 33; and the sides of the said body portion 4| adjacent to said chamber 5| are ported, as at 52 and 53, to provide for the admission of air to the said chamber 5| whereby such air may be heated by the heater 33 to induce its circulation into one or other of the chambers 41 and 48 by way of passages 54 or 55 leading from the said chamber 5! to the said tablet chambers 41 and 48.

It will readily be seen that if the prongs 23 and 24 are inserted into a socket in a relatively horizontal position, as shown in Figure 12, the exhaust openings 50 will be uppermost and the air flow will pass thereto by way of the passage 45 and the chamber 48, thus passing over a vapor or other capsule I33 positioned in the said chamber 48. However, if the device is used with the prongs one above the other to meet the requirements of a corresponding type of socket, the exhaust openings 49 will in that case be uppermost, and the air current will rise through the passage 54 and chamber 47, the tablet, of course, being positioned on the surface 45 of the body member 44.

In the example Figures 12 and 13, the chambers 41 and 48 are shown as opening through the front of the device for the insertion of tablets thereinto, although it will be obvious that this is merely a matter of design or a manufacturing expedient. V

This invention may be developed within the scope of the following claims without departing from the essential features of the said invention, and it is desired that the specification and drawings be read as being merely illustrative of a practical embodiment of the same and not in a strictly limiting sense.

What I claim is:

1. In a vaporizer device designed to be plugged into an electrical wall outlet, a vertical back casing member for positioning against such a wall outlet, a front casing member secured to said back member to define therewith a'chamber, a ported partition within said chamber dividing it into upper and lower compartments, the walls of said chamber being ported above and below said partition to provide exhaust and inlet openings respectively, a resistance-type electric heating element carried by said back casing member and located in said lower compartment, and a pair of prongs extending horizontally outwardly of and carried by said back casing member, said prongs being electrically connected directly with said heating element.

2. In a vaporizer device designed to be plugged into an electrical wall outlet, a vertical back casing member for positioning against such a wall outlet, at front casing member secured to said back member to define therewith a chamber, a ported partition within said chamber dividing it into upper and lower compartments, the walls of said chamber being ported above and below said partition to provide exhaust and inlet openings respectively, a resistance-type electric heating element carried by said back casing member and located in said lower compartment, and a pair of prongs extending horizontally outwardly of and carried by said back casing member, said prongs being electrically connected directly with said heating element, said exhaust opening being positioned relative to said prongs to open upwardly when said prongs are utilized in a side by side position or in a position one above the other to meet the arrangement of openings peculiar to the wall outlet with which the device is to be used.

3. In a vaporizer device designed to be plugged into an electrical wall outlet, a vertical back casing member for positioning against such a wall outlet, 9, front casing member secured to said back member to define therewith a chamber, a ported partition within said chamber dividing it into upper and lower compartments, the walls of said chamber being ported above and below said partition to provide exhaust and inlet openings respectively, a resistance-type electric heating element carried by said back casing member and located in said lower compartment, and a pair of prongs extending horizontally outwardly of and carried by said back casing member, said prongs being electrically connected directly with said heating element, said prongs being spaced apart on a plane substantially at a 45 degree angle to a plane bisecting both said inlet and exhaust openings.

4. In a vaporizer device designed to be plugged into an electrical wall outlet, a hollow body structure, a partition therewithin dividing the interior of said structure into an upper compartment for the reception of a volatile tablet and a lower compartment, said body structure having an air inlet opening to said lower compartment and an air exhaust opening from said upper compartment, 9. resistance-type electric heating element in said lower compartment, and a pair of spaced apart contact prongs connected to said heating element, said prongs extending horizontally from said structure whereby they may be inserted in an electrical wall outlet, said exhaust opening being positioned relative to said prongs to open-upwardly regardless of whether said prongs are utilized in a side by side position or in a position one above the other to meet the arrangement of openings peculiar to the wall outlet with which the device is to be used.

5. In a vaporizer device designed to be plugged into an electrical wall outlet, a hollow divided body structure defining an upper compartment for the reception of a volatile tablet and a lower compartment opening into said upper compartment, said body having an air inlet opening to said lower compartment on its underside and an air exhaust opening from said upper compartment on its upper side, a resistance-type electric heating element in said lower compartment, and a pair of contact pron s connected to said heating element, said prongs extending horizontally from the said structure whereby they may be inserted in an electrical wall outlet, said prongs being spaced apart on a plane substantially at a 45 degree angle to a plane extending therebetween and bisecting both said inlet and exhaust openings.

6. In a vaporizer device designed to be plugged into an electrical wall outlet, a hollow divided body structure defining an upper compartment for the reception of a volatile tablet and a lower compartment opening into said upper compartment, said body having an air inlet opening to said lower compartment and an air exhaust opening from said upper compartment, a resistancetype electric heating element in said lower compartment, and a pair of spaced apart contact prongs fixedly'connected to said heating element and to that wall of the said structure intended to be presented to the wall outlet, said exhaust opening being positioned relative to said prongs to open upwardly regardless of whether said prongs are utilized in a side by side position or in a position one above the other to meet the arrangement of openings peculiar to the wall outlet with which the device is to be used.

7. In a vaporizer device designed to be plugged into an electrical wall outlet, a hollow body structure, a tablet shelf bisecting said structure into upper and lower chambers, the wall of said body structure being ported to provide an air inlet opening to said lower chamber and further ported to provide an air exhaust opening from said upper chamber, a resistance-type electric heating element in said lower chamber, and a pair of spaced apart contact prongs connected to said heating element, said prongs extending horizontally from said structure, said shelf being arranged in a plane tilted about an axis extending in parallel between said prongs whereby said shelf will lie at an acute angle to a plane passing through both of said prongs.

8. In a vaporizer device designed to be plugged into an electrical wall outlet, a hollow body structure, a tablet shelf bisecting said structure into upper and lower chambers, the wall of said body structure being ported to provide an air inlet opening to said lower chamber and further ported to provide an air exhaust opening from said upper chamber, a resistance-type electric heating element in said lower chamber, and a pair of spaced apart contact prongs connected to said heating element, said prongs extending horizontally from said structure, said exhaust opening being positioned relative to said prongs to open upwardly regardless of whether said prongs are utilized in a side by side position or in a position one above the other to meet the arrangement of openings peculiar to the wall outlet with which the device is to be used, and said shelf being arranged in a plane tilted about an axis extending in parallel between said prongs whereby said shelf will lie at an acute angle to a plane passing through both of said prongs.

9. In a vaporizer device designed to be plugged into an electrical wall outlet, a body structure, a tablet shelf bisecting said structure with upper and lower chambers, the wall of said body structure being ported to provide an air inlet opening to said lower chamber and further ported to provide an air exhaust opening from said upper chamber, a resistance-type electric heating element in said lower chamber, and a pair of spaced apart contact prongs connected to said heating element, said prongs extending horizontally from said structure, said shelf being arranged in a plane tilted about an axis extending in parallel between said prongs whereby said shelf will lie at an acute angle to a plane passing through both of said prongs and havin valved openings therein for selective closing to regulate points of air ilow from said lower chamber into said upper chamber.

10. In a vaporizer device designed to be plugged into an electrical wall outlet, a hollow body structure, a tablet shelf bisecting said structure into upper and lower chambers, the wall of said body structure being ported to provide an air inlet opening to said lower chamber and further ported to provide an air exhaust opening from said upper chamber, a resistance-type electric heating element in said lower chamber, and a pair of spaced apart contact prongs connected to said heating element extending from that wall of the structure 9 intended to be presented to the. wall outlet, said shelf being arranged in a plane tilted about an axis extending in parallel between said prongs whereby said shelf will lie at an acute angle to a plan passing through both of said prongs, said shelf having a plurality of punched-up tabs formed therein to provide passages capable of selective closing by bending down one or another of said tam to regulate points of air fiow into said compartment.

11. In a vaporizer device designed to be plugged into an electrical wall outlet, a hollow body structure, a tablet shelf bisecting said structure into upper and lower chambers, punched-up tabletpositioning tabs on said shelf providing air vents capable of selective closing by bending down one or another of said tabs to regulate points of air flow into said compartment, said body structure being ported to provide an air inlet opening to said lower chamber and an air exhaust opening from said upper chamber, a resistance-type electric heating element in said lower chamber, and a pair 01' spaced apart contact prongs connected to said heating element said prongs extending horizontally from said structure, said shelf being arranged in a plane tilted about an axis extending in parallel between said prongs whereby said shell will lie at an acute angle to a plane passing through both of said prongs.

12. In a vaporizer designed to be plugged into an electrical wall outlet, a hollow divided body structure, defining an upper compartment for the reception or a volatile tablet and a lower compartment opening into said upper compartment, said body having an air inlet opening to said lower compartment and an air exhaust opening from said upper compartment, a resistance-type electric heating element in said lower compartment,

' and apair of spaced-apart contact prongs, said heating element and said prongs being fixedly connected together as a unitary structure, and said body structure being mounted thereon for rotary adjustment about an axis parallel to and passing between said prongs.

13. In a vaporizer device designed to be plugged into an electrical wall outlet, a hollow body structure, a pair of spaced apart prongs extending outwardly from said structure for insertion in either a horizontal or a vertical relationship to one another in a corresponding wall socket, said body structure being partitioned to define an L- shaped pair of connected compartments for the reception in one or other of said compartments of a vapor-producing capsule, the wall of said structure being ported to provide an air exhaust opening from the region of the angular connection of said compartments, said structure also having walls defining a heater chamber situated within the angle between said chamber; and communicating therewith, said structure being further ported for the admission of air to said heater chamber, and a resistance-type electric heater in said chamber electrically connected with said prongs.

14. In a vaporizer device designed to be plugged into an electrical wall outlet, a hollow body structure, a pair of spaced apart prongs extending outwardly from said structure for insertion in either a horizontal or a vertical relationship to one another in a corresponding wall socket, said body structure being partitioned to provide an L-shaped pair of connected compartments for the reception in one or other of said compartments of a vapor producing capsule, the wall of said structure being ported to provide air exhaust opening from the region of the angular connection or said compartments, said structure also having walls defining a heater chamber situated within the angle between said chambers and pair of connected compartment for the reception in one or the other of said compartments of a vapor-producing capsule, and on the other side thereof a heater chamber, said baiiie being ported to aiIord communication between chamber and said compartments about the ends of said battle, the outer walls of said structure being ported above and below said baiile for the fiow of air through either of said compartments, and a resistance-type electric heater in said chamber electrically connected with said prongs.

I HAL F. COSTEILO.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,824,055 Newton Sept. 22, 1931 1,841,864 Weicheit Jan. 19, 1932 1.845.482 McRae et al. Feb. 18. 1932 

